Wilmington, NC - The Cape Fear men's soccer team bounced back from a loss on Saturday to defeat USC Lancaster 3-0. It was Cape Fear's second win against Lancaster this season.
"I feel like we carried yesterday's second half over to today," said head coach C.W. Ponton afterwards. "I'm glad to see that the guys brought a lot of energy. That's a whole lot to play two games in two consecutive days."
Play was back and forth to start the game, with both teams holding possession for periods of time. While not creating any legitimate scoring chances, Cape Fear looked much more comfortable in the early going than in their previous game.
The Sea Devils would get their first opportunity at goal in the 13th minute. A cross into the box would force the Lancaster goalkeeper out to punch the ball away, leaving an open goal chance for Travis Anttila, who attempted a header that would fall short of the goal. The home team would advance into Lancaster's final third a few more times in the next couple of minutes, but the Lancers would block the Sea Devils' crosses into the box.
Cape Fear would almost go ahead in the 23rd minute, when Keaton Simmons would find himself one-on-one with the keeper. Unfortunately, Simmons wouldn't have the angle, and his shot would be saved by the goalkeeper. Brian Leite would collect the rebound in front of goal, but his shot would go wide.
Andrew Phillips would get his own breakaway chance off a counter in the 31st minute, but his shot would go wide as well.
Despite the missed opportunities, the Sea Devils looked the stronger side in the first half. The play of the midfield was much improved from Saturday's game against USC Salkehatchie. They looked to string passes together, which often developed into scoring chances.
Their hard work would eventually pay off in the 41st minute. Cape Fear drew a foul just passed midfield, and Alan Sanchez's free kick would connect with Pedro Ugarte, who would head the ball over the keeper's head and into the goal, giving them the lead heading into halftime.
Coach Ponton was impressed with Sanchez's free kick, along with Ugarte's finish and overall performance. "Pedro did what I put him in for. He's a bit of a wrecking ball, and he's very good and talented on holding the ball up, and that's what he came and did."
Lancaster would get their first real chance at goal just after halftime began, but goalkeeper Martin Zambrano would read the shot well, and deflect the ball outside the box. Zambrano was solid the entire game, making four saves, while recording his first clean sheet of the season.
Two great chances would develop for Cape Fear soon after. The first would come in the 55th minute, as Simmons would head the ball, and force the keeper to make a diving save. Then, in the 59th minute, a scramble in the box would end with the ball at Ugarte's feet, but his shot would be deflected and then saved by the keeper before it rolled into the net.
As the second half went on, the Sea Devils would increasingly impose their dominance. Cape Fear applied a lot of pressure, and Lancaster was unable to create much possession as a result. Cape Fear could have easily been up by two or more goals at this point, but Lancaster would do just enough to keep it a one goal game.
The game would eventually be put away by Anttila in the 79th minute. He would find himself open on the right side of the box, and send his shot past the keeper across the goal and into the left corner. Ponton believed the way Anttila utilized his speed down the line, and in countering attack situations contributed to the victory.
The Sea Devils had another great scoring chance a minute later, but Lancaster's goalkeeper would make a great diving save to stop a shot just in front of goal by Anttila. They would get the third goal in the 89th minute off a penalty kick, as Ugarte would score his second of the game.
Looking ahead, Ponton sees continuing their recent stretch of play is important. "If we can just carry the past game and a half to our game coming up this week, that will really benefit us."
With the win, the Sea Devils improved to 2-3 on the season. They will play Louisburg College next on Wednesday, September 14th. The game will be at Legion Stadium at 5:00 p.m.
Courtesy of Nick Denning
